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Jupiter’s Legacy hit Netflix on May 7 to great expectations. The show, which adapts a well-regarded comic by Mark Millar, was the first project to emerge from Netflix’s 2017 acquisition of Millar’s publishing line, Millarworld. Unlike most of Millar’s works, the superhero comic, with a story that spans decades and prequel titles, had a deep character bench from which to draw, and Netflix saw it as a way to further its own universe-building ambitions to compete with Disney IP heavyweights Marvel and Star Wars. And it was to be the cornerstone of its Millarworld ambitions.
On June 2, however, Jupiter was no more, with the streamer informing the cast that they were being let go as the series garnered a less-than-stellar 38 percent critics’ score on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.
The show, however, seemed to be a victim of several factors, some of its own making, some not, and illustrates the birthing pains of building from a highly publicized acquisition.
The series was plagued with issues from the start, with then-showrunner Steven DeKnight initially asking Netflix for a budget of at least a $12 million per episode, according to sources. The streamer, however, backed him down to under $9 million.
It wasn’t long into shooting that the show found itself overbudget and running behind, with DeKnight, never one to shy away from speaking his mind, according to people who have worked with him, clashing with Netflix over “creative differences.” The production was shut down about halfway through its eight-episode shoot; DeKnight was replaced by Sang Kyu Kim, who then had to retool the first batch of episodes.
Issues didn’t stop there, however, as even after wrapping production, the show spent an inordinate amount of 2020 in postproduction. Louis Leterrier, the filmmaker behind Netflix’s acclaimed Dark Crystal and Lupin series, was brought in at the eleventh hour as a consultant, according to sources, but the move was too late to save the troubled show.
With episode spends now reaching above even what DeKnight originally asked for, show insiders say he was proven right in some respects.
“Marvel shows are $15 million to $20 million per episode,” notes one producer working in the comic book space. “If you’re going to make a big superhero show, you need at least that much.”
It is unclear in what range the final budget landed. A Netflix insider pegged it closer to $130 million for the season, but with the cost of shutting down production and the long post time, several sources peg it at upwards of $200 million.
To compound problems, Netflix then underwent an executive shuffle that saw Jupiter‘s greenlighter, vp original content Cindy Holland, and its two original executive overseers exit the company. Holland was replaced last fall by industry veteran Bela Bajaria, who took the mantle as head of global TV. As is the norm with many a shuffle, any project not part of an incoming exec’s portfolio will be scrutinized. “Unless the show is an undisputed hit, it’s going to fall under the microscope,” says one Jupiter insider.
When Jupiter was canceled, some observers presumed bad metrics were the cause. But a day after the cancellation, Nielsen showed Jupiter atop its streaming chart, generating 696 million minutes of view time in the week of May 3-9, better than Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale (690 million) and other original series from Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime and Disney+. And Jupiter was, for a while, a fixture on Netflix’s own public top 10 chart visible to subscribers, although that metric is vague as it is not clear if it’s measuring fully-watched episodes or smaller samples or just acting as a visibility booster.
Millar and Netflix spun the cancellation by saying Jupiter is going to be a universe, with a new live-action series — based on an unrelated Millar comic titled Supercrooks — given a series order and put under the Jupiter umbrella. Several rival executives questioned why you would lasso yourself to a failed launch, but others noted it does allow the company to gauge the initial awareness winds generated by Jupiter while still allowing Bajaria — between Supercrooks and reviving previously sidelined project The Magic Order — to put her own stamp on Millarworld.
Some say the fate of Jupiter’s Legacy has revealed that Millarworld, despite having a creative IP factory in Millar, lacks a seasoned producer or executive that can really steer the division. A Netflix insider insists that the company is invested in Millarworld for the long haul, noting building franchises takes time and that even vaunted brands such as Star Wars and DC have stumbled.
So in the end, was there an audience for the show or not? Netflix isn’t saying, and viewers may have to wait until Supercrooks arrives to find out.
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World News: 11:00 GMT Wednesday 11th September 2019. [Qwilt via Globe Newswire via SPi World News]
REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Sept. 11, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- , a leading provider of edge cloud and media delivery solutions, announced today its innovative new service, Qwilt Content Delivery Sharing (CDS), a unique approach to content delivery over the Internet. Qwilt’s new service uses the same sharing economy model made famous by Uber and others, in which local service providers are paid to use their own assets to deliver a service that is coordinated by a central entity. Users get the benefit of on-demand, local service and the simplicity of a single coordinating entity. With Qwilt Content Delivery Sharing, the OTT content providers’ content is delivered by local ISP edge computing assets, instead of a more distant CDN. The outcome for the OTT content provider is more delivery capacity, higher quality and lower prices. In this new sharing model for content delivery, Qwilt, like Uber, serves as the overall coordinator, instantly matching consumer requests for OTT content with local ISPs who are ready to deliver. Content Delivery Sharing is unique because of the partnerships Qwilt has established with service providers who operate the edge delivery infrastructure, as well as the collaborative relationship with publishers who value the high performance and capacity available through in-ISP network delivery.
The concern about a looming content delivery capacity gap around the world is being driven by many factors: first, the proliferation of streaming services and accompanying consumer demand; second, the steady march of higher resolution content and devices, from SHD to 4K to 8K; and third, the increasing capacity of access networks, both mobile and fixed broadband, which prompt consumers to expect broadcast quality when streaming. As evidence of these factors, the expected growth of media consumption worldwide, especially due to the new network capabilities brought on by 5G, is staggering. According to a by Ovum and Intel, average monthly data consumption per 5G subscriber will grow from 11.7GB in 2019 to 84.4GB in 2028, at which point video will account for 90% of all 5G traffic. According to , the content delivery network market was valued at $7.33 billion in 2017 and is expected to reach a value of $29.48 billion by 2023 at a CAGR of 26.1%, over the forecast period (2018-2023).
Content Delivery Sharing’s innovative approach disrupts the 20-year-old CDN business model and, more importantly, solves the looming delivery capacity gap problem. As OTT video traffic continues to increase exponentially, CDNs will almost certainly be overloaded, becoming a bottleneck themselves. Qwilt’s CDS allows ISPs to optimally place edge delivery nodes inside their own networks, far from CDN peering points, alleviating bottlenecks and moving content closer to end users.
“Qwilt’s Content Delivery Sharing leverages the Open Caching specifications developed in the Streaming Video Alliance over the last five years,” said Dan Rayburn, principal analyst at Frost and Sullivan. “There is an important dimension to Qwilt’s approach, which can help create needed content delivery capacity as streaming demand grows. Qwilt’s CDS model means ISPs have a direct role in the content delivery value chain because they purchase, deploy and operate the CDS edge delivery infrastructure. Because this is based on Open Caching, ISPs can have confidence this architecture and operational model has industry support.”
“Content Delivery Sharing is the solution publishers need to scale their streaming services for coming demand,” said Alon Maor, CEO of Qwilt and board member of the Streaming Video Alliance. “Along with our service provider partners, we believe this new model for content delivery will establish the right trajectory for streaming capacity and scale that will benefit the entire ecosystem – publishers, services providers and consumers.”
(2) Global Content Delivery Network Market 2018 to Boom $29.48 Billion Value by 2023 at a CAGR of 26.1%
Qwilt is a Founding Member of the Streaming Video Alliance and a leader of the Open Caching industry movement. Founded in 2010 by industry veterans from Cisco and Juniper, Qwilt is backed by Accel Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, Cisco Ventures, Disrupt-ive, Innovation Endeavors, Marker and Redpoint Ventures. Learn more at .
A video accompanying this release is available at:
Globe Newswire: 11:00 GMT Wednesday 11th September 2019
SPi News is published by Sector Publishing Intelligence Ltd.
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During today’s second quarter 2011 financial results webcast, Visa Chairman and CEO Joseph Saunders highlighted how Visa has been working hard to develop a “Visa-quality” payments solution that brings reliability, security and convenience to mobile and eCommerce environments. Saunders delivered the following remarks excerpted below:
As all of us know, the way people connect and transact across the globe is changing dramatically, driven by two global forces:
- The continued secular shift from paper-based to electronic payments that still largely occurs at the physical point of sale; and
- The widespread adoption of mobile and Internet technology.
These forces are converging, and consumers and merchants are looking for payments solutions that harness these technologies. To that end, we have been working hard to develop a “Visa-quality” payments solution that brings reliability, security and convenience to mobile and eCommerce environments.
In our view, a globally viable payments solution must have five fundamental characteristics — convenience and simplicity, standardization, interoperability, global accessibility and security. None of the solutions we have seen from competitors are comprehensive enough because they don’t address all of these criteria at once. Visa has long delivered solutions at the physical point-of-sale that passed this test, and we are applying that same standard in the online and mobile arenas.
Look for us to make an announcement on our global eCommerce and mobile strategy later this month.
Posted by: Will Valentine, Visa Corporate Relations on May 5, 2011 at 3:15 pm


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Bye Bye Blockbuster, Hello Streaming Netflix
Blockbuster did just get another extension to file -- it was supposed to do so in September -- and now has until Feb. 4. The company is supposed to reduce its debt from around $1 billion to a mere $100 million, but given market trends it's difficult to see how that's possible.
Rental kiosks from the likes of Red Box are now more popular than stores, and streaming video rentals directly to your home's TV or computer is on its way to be coming the norm, given that nearly all the TVs on display at the Consumer Electronics Show this year had some kind of Internet connectivity -- either embedded or available as an add-on. There are set top boxes like Apple TV, Roku and Boxee that deliver content via the Internet to the living room, and more U.S. homes have video game consoles than cable boxes, most of them connected to the Internet and ready to stream movies.
The real winner in all this will be Netflix, not Blockbuster.Blockbuster has closed more than 1,100 stores in the past two years, and many more will go away before the restructuring is over. Eventually the discs themselves will too as we eventually adopt Internet-enabled TVs. It won't be overnight, there will likely be a decade-long transition, not unlike the one to digital TV, given how big the installed base of existing TVs is. But access to hard copies of movies will become increasingly limited.
For Blockbuster to carve out its niche now is too late. Netflix owns this channel and any other retailer looking to participate, even Walmart which bought Vudu last year, is at a disadvantage.
Time is certainly ticking away for Blockbuster. If it goes away, will you miss it?


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aaa replica designer handbags This came buy replica bags online as KTV operators in other cities protested a new fee standard, which is nearly 10 times the current royalty fee paid by Shenzhen operators.In a pilot scheme unveiled Nov. 9 that will be trialed in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, the MCSC, which collects royalties for musicians, and the China Audio and Video Association (CAVA), which collects royalties for video and audio products, replica designer bags wholesale set a royalty fee standard of up to 12 yuan (US$1.5) per KTV room per day.Most Shenzhen KTV operators now pay 0.072 yuan per square meter in royalty fees to the MCSC. That works out to about 1.4 yuan a day per room.”The contract between MCSC and Shenzhen KTV operators expires Nov aaa replica designer handbags.


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Electric vehicle upstart Lucid Group Inc. LCID, which reported a dip in reservations in the third quarter, is going all out to prevent further cancellations, multiple reports said.
What Happened: Rival Tesla Inc. TSLA CEO Elon Musk on Friday weighed in on the development.
Lucid has changed its procedure to cancel vehicle orders, a Drive Tesla report said, citing Business Insider. New emails send to employees reportedly suggested they should proceed with the objective of saving an order when a cancellation request comes in.
See Also: Best Electric Vehicle Stocks
Such requests are to be handled at three levels — case owner, manager and regional manager — each of whom will be striving to salvage the order by contacting the custiomer within five days.
The report also cited Barron’s story that said Lucid is offering up to 10% discount to customers who ordered a Grand Touring after prices were raised. Employees are also reportedly given an $18,000 discount for its 2022 model Grand Touring before the end of the year.
When Drive Tesla shared the report in a tweet, Musk said, “They are not long for this world,” apparently suggesting the luxury EV maker will go down under.
Incidentally, Musk had previously prophesied doomsday for Lucid and another startup Rivian Automotive Holding Inc. RIVN. In an interview with @teslaownersSV earlier this year, the billionaire said unless something changes significantly with Rivian and Lucid, they will both go bankrupt.
Price Action: In premarket trading on Friday, Lucid shares were rising 0.81% to $8.75, according to Benzinga Pro data.
© 2023 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.


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The inaugural International Surface Event East (TISE East) in Miami Beach, Fla., drew 185 exhibiting companies coverings more than 50,000 sq. ft. of exhibit space. The first-year show saw attendees and exhibitors from more than 50 countries. More locally, the event brought in business owners from more than 30 communities in the surrounding Miami area.
“TISE East attracted a completely new audience compared to our sister event in Las Vegas. It translated into new business for our exhibitors,” said Dana Teague, vice president of Hanley Wood Exhibitions. “Our goal from the very beginning was to create a unique trade show experience that allowed attendees to take full advantage of educational offerings, certifications and networking, in addition to the exhibits and buying opportunities.”


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Android Wear, Google’s software platform for smartwatches, could soon be renamed and given a new logo.
That’s according to an eagle–eyed Reddit user, who spotted the plans while setting up his newly purchased watch.
A notification dubbed the operating system Wear OS rather than Android Wear, with a new ‘W’ logo appearing alongside the name.
The move makes sense for Google, as many of the watches which use its software work across both Android and iOS.
It comes after reports in the US claimed that the Apple Watch was now the most popular available smartwatch, enjoying massive growth thanks to the launch of its third edition last year.
Google, therefore, has a lot of catching up to do.
Renaming Android Wear should give it a boost and help make it clearer that users don’t need an Android smartphone in order for products using the software to work.
It’s likely Google will officially reveal its plans during its annual I/O event, which takes place in May.
The search giant is also expected to reveal more details about Android P, which it released to developers last week.


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When the Nevada Gaming Control Board determined in October that daily fantasy sports companies must be licensed to operate in the Silver State, many observers falsely presumed that the casino gaming industry was flexing its muscle to shut down an upstart competitor. In actuality, Nevada provided legal clarity and a roadmap for daily fantasy sports’ continued success — exactly what the gaming industry is seeking across the United States.
Our industry is also seeking a greater focus on the intersection of regulation and innovation, two critical components of gaming that are often at odds. Gov. Brian Sandoval appreciates this challenge, and we applaud him for convening the Nevada Gaming Policy Committee for a meeting today to determine how Nevada can lead the way in regulating DFS and other important disruptors to the traditional gaming product.
DFS is a compelling upstart business caught in a legal gray area between state and federal laws. With billions of dollars changing hands and thousands of participants, DFS is also an industry in need of consumer protections and other regulations that ensure the integrity of its product.
But DFS is not the only one caught in a legal gray area — so too are the casinos that might wish to do business, such as hosting events or sponsoring activities with these innovative new companies. Over the past year, gaming regulators across the country have warned casinos to steer clear of DFS, lest we risk our multibillion dollar privileged licenses. Yet how are gaming companies supposed to stay ahead of the curve of consumer demand — which DraftKings and FanDuel have clearly tapped into — by sitting on the sidelines?
Even the majority of professional sports leagues, which have long opposed anything that toed the line of gambling, have not only embraced but invested in DFS. In the NFL alone, 28 of 32 teams entered into business relationships with DFS companies.
Removing DFS from the legal gray zone and establishing a regulatory structure is critical to the casino gaming industry’s business relationship with DFS companies.
But make no mistake: what our industry is confronting is bigger than DFS. ESports, in which professional video game players compete in front of thousands of fans, many of whom bet on the outcome, is another example of a potentially disruptive concept that is gaining steam. In April, the League of Legends spring champion will be crowned at Mandalay Bay Events Center — the first time the event has been held outside of Los Angeles. A previous match at Madison Square Garden was viewed by more than 11,000 fans. And a Chinese gaming company wants to build an eSports arena on the Strip.
Two guiding concepts could help with navigating this new terrain and maintaining Nevada’s historic role in setting the gold standard for gaming regulation.
First is the need to enable innovation. Can revolutionary gaming innovations happen in a heavily regulated marketplace? Evidence suggests that the unregulated market — birthplace to disruptors such as DFS and eSports — is a type of testing lab. As disruptive new platforms take hold in the marketplace, regulations should aim to integrate them into our industry without pushing the customer down the path of least resistance to the unregulated, illegal market.
Second, regulations should be flexible. In gaming’s early days, casinos competed against the new building across the street. Later, casinos fought for customers with casinos in a neighboring state. Now, as gaming operates in 80 percent of the United States, casinos are competing against every other entertainment option. Regulatory flexibility will allow operators and manufacturers to rapidly adapt to changing consumer trends and help to ensure a thriving gaming industry, which states count on for significant tax revenues.
And just like gaming operators and suppliers, regulators need to be nimble to keep pace with emerging technologies, shifting demographics and changing market demands. Otherwise, rules become obsolete before they are even implemented.
Through the work of the Nevada Gaming Policy Committee, the leadership of Gov. Sandoval and the collaboration of gaming companies and regulators, Nevada can send a message that it will continue to be the gold standard in gaming innovation.
Geoff Freeman is president and CEO of the American Gaming Association.


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Free shipping has become table stakes during the holiday shopping season.
And this year is shaping up to be no different with Richfield-based Best Buy announcing today that it has launched free shipping promotion on any size order, instead of requiring a minimum order of $35 as it does during the rest of the year, from now until Christmas Day.
This is the third year in a row it has offered free shipping during the holidays. Last week, Minneapolis-based Target Corp. also announced free shipping during the season, something it as also offered in previous years.
In addition, Best Buy said it has now expanded same-day delivery to another 15 U.S. metro areas as it said it would do earlier this year. That brings the number of markets where it has it up and running to 40 cities.
The electronics chain had rolled out same-day delivery, and dropped the price for the service to $5.99, to more markets, including the Twin Cities, in September. That rollout was in partnership with delivery firm Deliv.
The additional markets Best Buy has now expanded same-day delivery are in markets where Deliv does not operate. So it has teamed up with third-party logistics firm Geodis to make those deliveries.
The new markets that now have access to same-day delivery to Best Buy include: Birmingham, Alabama; Cleveland; Detroit; Indianapolis; Little Rock, Arkansas; Milwaukee; New Orleans, Oklahoma City; Portland, Oregon; Raleigh, North Carolina; Salt Lake City and St. Louis.


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Fast and Furious 9 Spotted Filming in Georgia
The Fast and the Furious franchise is a favorite among gearheads. This first one was released in 2001 and eight sequels, plus one spinoff followed it. The producers have announced that the main series will have two more films to be released in 2020 and 2021.
Filming for the ninth installment is already in progress. Recently, Universal was filming in a small Georgia town. You can see an armored truck smashing against three smaller cars as a helicopter makes its rounds in the air. This is a very common scenario in the movies, so we can expect to see the traditional high-stakes car chases for which the franchise is famous. The series is also famous for its big array of cool cars. Here are the vehicles that have confirmed so far.
1970 Dodge Charger R/T
In the video, we can see that one of the cars being chased by the truck is a 1970 Dodge Charger. Motorious reports that it’s a custom car created by SpeedKore and features a mid-engine layout. The Charger was a popular muscle car back in its day, but it’s also one of the most iconic cars of the Fast/Furious franchise.
It appeared in the first movie as Vin Diesel’s car of choice. Another version of the car appeared in Fast Five, and a new “off-road” edition was built for the seventh installment. Because Dodge Chargers are becoming more scarce on the used car market, the production team will often purchase ones in terrible condition or use shells to build custom bodies underneath. It’s a lot of extra work, but it’s worth it to keep up with the tradition of having the iconic Dodge Charger in the films.
The other car featured in the armored truck sequence appears to be a Chevy Nova. This is the car’s first appearance in the series. The car was first released in 1961 as a two-door sedan, though roadster and station wagon variants were built later. The Nova Super Short had the most powerful engine of the model line, a 6.5-liter V8 engine capable of 375 and 415 lb-ft of torque.
Despite the car being well-received upon its release, it couldn’t keep up with its competitors at the time. The Nova got many cosmetic changes over the years in an attempt to appeal to the current market, but the decreased demand and lower resale value ultimately led to its discontinuation.
Dodge Charger Hellcat Widebody
Vin Diesel’s character is getting a fresh ride in the newest movie. The actor teased a 2020 Hellcat on his Instagram account. This car is set to be released early next year, but specs of the car are already available online. The new Hellcat has a V8 6.2-liter engine, which can get up to 717 hp and 797 hp in the Redeye edition. The Widebody has a better performance rating, able to accelerate from 0-60 in a little under four seconds.
The Supra MK IV has been featured in a few of the Fast/Furious films in the past, and a 2020 Supra was spotted on the set of the latest movie. The car was recently the cause of some controversy involving “illegal street racing”, but the role it will have in this movie hasn’t been revealed yet. Under the hood, it has a six-cylinder turbocharged engine capable of 335 hp. It also comes in several colors, but the one featured in the movie is a striking bright orange. With its stylish appearance and impressive acceleration, there’s no doubt that viewers will have fun watching this one onscreen.


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Netflix original series continued to capture a majority of the world’s audience demand for the full year 2020, according to Parrot Analytics’ latest “Global TV Demand Report”. However, in the face of new competition from the likes of Disney+, Apple TV+, and HBO Max, Netflix’s 53.5% global share of demand for digital original series was the lowest in its history, and was a 6.3% point decline compared to 2019.
The main reason for this decline for Netflix was the proliferation of new streaming services. In its first full year of availability, Apple TV+ established 3.9% global demand share for digital originals, while HBO Max and Disney+ followed close behind at 3.6% each. Other niche streaming services gained a combined 8.8% of global demand share, reflecting the proliferation and growth of streaming platforms around the world.
Parrot Analytics also examined the demand share for global SVOD platforms, digital original series popularity, and market-specific genre demand shares for the full year 2020 in its latest report. The study features market-specific analyses including the United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Spain, and the United Kingdom.
Visit Senal News to read this article.


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Xiaomi opens down in its Hong Kong IPO
|Xiaomi opens down in its Hong Kong IPO|
|Broadcast Date||JULY 9, 2018|
Timehop discloses major security breach, Uber invests in scooter company Lime, Apple Music closes in on Spotify numbers in the US.
- Timehop disclosed a major security breach in July that affected 21 million users. Attackers were also able to retrieve access tokens to view users’ posts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Foursquare. Timehop's cloud servers were not protected by multi-factor authentication. Names and email addresses associated were stolen and 4.7 million of those accounts had a phone number attached.
- Samsung opened the world’s largest mobile phone factory in India on the outskirts of Delhi. Samsung says its annual mobile phone output will increase to 120 million units a year from 68 million units a year after the facility is completed by 2020.ndia’s smartphone market grew 14 percent with total shipments of 124 million units in 2017, the fastest pace of growth among the top 20 markets, according to International Data Corp.
- As of last week, Apple had between 21m and 21.5m US subscribers, while Spotify had 22m to 22.5m, according to sources speaking to CNBC. That's compared to 1 year ago, when Spotify had about 17m US subscribers to Apple’s 13m, Sources expect Apple to match Spotify in the US by next month Apple Music has also been growing faster than Spotify in the UK and Canada. But globally, Spotify remains the leader, with 75m paying customers at the end of last March, and reaching close to 100m by the end of the year.
- Sources tell Recode Groupon is looking to sell and has ramped up efforts in recent months. In 2011 Groupon had the second-largest IPO for a tech company at the time, putting the company's valuation at $16 billion. Today, Groupon is valued at $2.4 billion as the deaily deals market has waned.
- Uber is investing in scooter rental companby Lime in a $335 million financing round led by Alphabet's venture arm GV, valuing Lime at $1.1 billion. Uber will reportedly promote Lime in the Uber app and add its logo on the scooters. Uber has filed an application in San Francisco to introduce a scooter service of its own.
- Xiaomi debuted its IPO in Hong Kong Monday, opening down at 16.60 Hong Kong dollars ($2.12) a share, according to Dow Jones, below the initial public offering price of HK$17 ($2.17). Shares traded at HK$16.58 apiece as of 3:35 p.m. HK/SIN before closing at $16.80, after slipping as low as HK$16 earlier. Xiaomi is the world’s fourth-largest smartphone manufacturer.
- Intel is denying part of a CTech report from last week that Apple has decided not to use an Intel 5G modem called “Sunny Peak” in future iPhones. CTech u[pdated its report to clarify Sunny Peak was not a 5G modem, and did not combine 5G, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth on one chip, only a combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip.
| Preceded by:
"Samsung Slows Down"
| Xiaomi opens down in its Hong Kong IPO
|| Followed by:|
"New Cheap Surface Tablet"


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• Executive vice president, chief growth officer, McCann North America, Birmingham
• Reason to watch: Promoted in May to oversee McCann's companywide business expansion.
Metro Detroit's advertising industry has roiled with change, especially client departures for other agencies that are fueling massive job losses
Relatively, but not completely, unscathed was the Birmingham office of McCann Worldgroup that is home to several specialized agencies and is General Motors Co.'s largest global advertising agency.
In May, McCann Worldgroup tapped Barbara Yolles, 44, to orchestrate its companywide business expansion as its chief growth officer. She had been brought in last year as chief marketing officer to lead the office's diversification efforts.
She's based in Birmingham but oversees McCann Worldgroup's five offices, including New York City and Los Angeles.
GM remains McCann's largest client: It handles Chevy and Cadillac in 60 countries that include lucrative emerging markets such as China, India and Latin America. It also handles GM's corporate work and retail advertising, such as employee discounts, along with Sirius XM satellite radio and Saab.
"This office in particular has deep roots in automotive," she said. "During the challenging last few years it came out strong with a diverse client base."
New McCann clients in the past year include Batavia, Ill.-based discount grocery giant Aldi Inc. and The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. It also has Travel Michigan's "Pure Michigan" work.
Biggest lesson learned in the past year: Life should be lived to the fullest. I learned this from my husband, who recently passed away from cancer. Despite being told he had terminal cancer, he taught me life is about staying focused, having goals, accomplishing them one at a time, and living.
If you could take a class on any subject, what would it be? I would take a class on the impact that technology has on human behavior. I'm fascinated how technology and the digital expansion (have) changed the way people consume information, make purchase decisions and lead fuller lives.


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July 26, 2016 - Product News
The change to high-volume F-150 cabins cuts costs and weight, and adds interior room for SuperCab and SuperCrew buyers.
Tags: Pickup Trucks, Ford, Lightweighting, Large Pickups, Ford Super Duty, Aluminum, 2017-MY
December 15, 2015 - Industry News
Nissan's new engine features four valves per cylinder, variable valve timing and direct fuel injection, and is rated at 390 hp at 5,800 rpm and 401 lb.-ft. of torque at 4,000 rpm.
Tags: Pickup Trucks, Nissan Titan, Engines, V-8 Engine, Large Pickups, 2016-MY
December 2, 2015 - Industry News
The XD is what amounts to a 5/8-ton truck that retains the maneuverability and ride of a half-tonner yet adds cargo hauling capacity without the bulk and expense of a three-quarter-tonner, Nissan people said.
Tags: Pickup Trucks, Nissan, Nissan Titan XD, Cummins ISV5.0
September 23, 2015 - Industry News
Ford introduced the 2017 Ford F-Series Super Duty with a number of enhancements including a lighter weight aluminum-alloy body.
Tags: Pickup Trucks, Chassis Cab, Ford, Ford Super Duty
December 31, 2014 - Industry News
Ford will launch a comprehensive marketing campaign for its aluminum-body 2015 F-150 pickup during the first-ever college football playoff on New Year's Day with TV commercials, Web episodes, radio ads, event marketing, and a mobile device campaign.
Tags: Ford F-150, Pickup Trucks, Ford, Advertising, 2015-MY
September 19, 2014 - Industry News
Chrysler's gamble to spin off its pickup truck division at the tail end of the recession has paid off, as the company has increased its market share of the pickup market by 10 percent since creating the Ram Truck division, reports the New York Times.
Tags: Ram Truck, Chrysler, Automotive Executives, Pickup Trucks
August 21, 2014 - Industry News
The total value of shipments in the heavy-duty truck manufacturing business have increased the most of three vehicle classes over the past five-years, according to new 2012 Economic Census statistics released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Tags: SUV, Vans, Economy, Pickup Trucks, OEM, Light-Duty Trucks, Heavy-Duty Trucks, Vehicle Manufacturing, Manufacturing
July 29, 2014 - Industry News
A 2015 F-150 Lariat SuperCrew 4x4 with a 2.7L V-6 EcoBoost engine scaled at 4,942 pounds, while a comparable 2014 F-150 Lariat SuperCrew 4x4 with a 5.0L V-8 weighed 5,674 pounds.
Tags: Ford F-150, Pickup Trucks, Ford, Lightweighting
July 16, 2014 - Industry News
Ford feels it has bragging rights and showed why at a ride-and-drive event for trade-press reporters this week in West Virginia. A first-person report from Senior Editor Tom Berg.
Tags: Ford Super Duty, Power Stroke diesel, Ford, Test Drive, Pickup Trucks
June 18, 2014 - Industry News
Horsepower and torque ratings announced by General Motors will make its 2015 Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon pickups the most powerful in the midsized truck segment, the company claims.
Tags: Chevrolet, Pickup Trucks, Colorado, General Motors, GMC, Mid-Size Pickups, Canyon, Light-Duty Trucks, Engines
June 5, 2014 - Industry News
Pickups still account for the majority of diesel vehicles, but cars and other passenger vehicles are increasingly powered by the compression-ignition engines.
Tags: Pickup Trucks, Diesel Technology Forum, Alternative Fuels & Hybrids, Clean Diesel Vehicles
February 7, 2014 - Industry News
A Cummins-Nissan project is testing the ‘viability’ of light diesel pickups for North America, and gauging customer interest in the idea.
Tags: Cummins, Pickup Trucks, Nissan, Diesel Engines
February 6, 2014 - Industry News
CNG-gasoline capability will be available in all cab and pickup bed sizes in 2500 and 3500 HD series, while compact van offers economy and cargo-carrying capability, GM says.
Tags: Bi-Fuel, General Motors, GMC, Compact Vans, Chevrolet, Pickup Trucks, CNG, Chevrolet City Express, Chevrolet Silverado
February 10, 2013 - Industry News
Nissan is planning to build an all-new version of its Titan full-size pickup truck, though the automaker hasn't yet announced a timeline for this new vehicle. The automaker said it wants this new vehicle to appeal to fleet and skilled-trade customers in addition to retail buyers.
Tags: Nissan, Nissan NV200, Nissan Titan, Pickup Trucks, Large Pickups
February 8, 2013 - Industry News
Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. unveiled the redesigned 2014 Tundra full-size pickup truck at a press conference at the 2013 Chicago Auto Show.
The 2014 Tundra will be redesigned, inside and out, representing the first major change since the launch of the current generation for the 2007 model year.
Tags: Toyota, Pickup Trucks, Light-Duty Trucks
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On the Spot: Drive the Future With Volvo's SuperTruck [Video]
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AutoSock Fits Wide Base Single Tires


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Tokyo (January 17, 2017) - Konica Minolta, Inc. (Konica Minolta) announced that Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. and Konica Minolta Business Solutions Europe GmbH are launching a new and enhanced version of the bizhub MarketPlace platform to accommodate the global market, in U.S.A. and Europe, adding a variety of applications and helpful features. The bizhub MarketPlace allows MFP’s functionalities to be enhanced by easily adding functions that are required to meet challenges of everyday businesses. The platform will be available throughout U.S.A.
MALVERN, Pa., January 12, 2017 – Ricoh USA, Inc. today unveiled its latest black-and-white device series to help small offices and enterprises work and collaborate more easily and efficiently. The compact, powerful RICOH MP 501SPF and RICOH MP 601SPF multifunction printer (MFP) and RICOH SP 5300DN and RICOH SP 5310DN printer series addresses the need for modern companies to drive maximum productivity and get the most out of their resources – including space.
MALVERN, Pa., January 12, 2017 – Ricoh USA, Inc. today unveiled its latest black-and-white multifunction printer (MFP) designed to help today’s businesses enhance worker productivity with fast print speeds, a more powerful processor and increased reliability. Equipped with a 10.1”-wide Super VGA Smart Operation Panel, the RICOH MP 402SPF further helps users more easily, intelligently and reliably get information where it needs to be, when it needs to be there.
PALO ALTO, Calif., January 13, 2017 — In advance of the National Retail Federation Convention in New York, HP today unveiled two new solutions that provide retailers with the mobile tools they need to engage customers more deeply and fully empower their associates. The new HP Elite x3 Mobile Retail Solution and the HP MX12 Retail Solution help retailers reinvent the customer experience with mobile platforms that leverage HP’s latest innovation.
MALVERN, Pa., Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Ricoh USA, Inc. today announced the RICOH Pro C5200s series, a digital color production printer series designed to help reduce print costs for in-house print centers, corporate reprographics departments, print-for-pay and commercial printers. Today's production print environments must adapt to many customer needs without breaking the bank.
ROCK HILL, South Carolina, December 19, 2016 – 3D Systems (NYSE:DDD) announced today the release of 3D Sprint 2.0, a productivity-enhancing print management and print optimization software developed for 3D Systems’ plastic 3D printers. In line with the company’s commitment to providing end-to-end digital manufacturing solutions, 3D Sprint 2.0 streamlines 3D printing workflows by reducing the need for users to divide projects among multiple software programs.
Ricoh Europe, London, 09 December 2016 – Ricoh shared expert insights on the changing commercial and enterprise print, direct mail and publishing environments during a series of events at its European Customer Experience Centre (CEC) in Telford, UK
The different sector-themed events, held under the ‘Open New Worlds’ banner, were attended by more than 300 operations from across the EMEA print and communications landscape.
Future opportunities were highlighted by leading external consultants and Ricoh specialists, including:
MALVERN, Pa., Nov. 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Ricoh USA, Inc. today announced RICOH Application and Infrastructure Monitoring and Management Service (RAIMMS), a new offering that proactively monitors and manages businesses' hardware and software infrastructure to drive end user uptime and efficiency. As an integral part of today's businesses, Information Technology (IT) infrastructure must be maintained and managed proactively. When this occurs, end user productivity and work satisfaction increase, resulting in happy users and healthier bottom lines.
MALVERN, Pa., Dec. 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Ricoh USA, Inc. today announced that Yurchak Printing, a book manufacturer serving book printing and commercial print industries, has grown its capabilities and streamlined its operations to better handle growing demand for short runs. By partnering with Ricoh to replace three aging toner devices with a single InfoPrint 5000 MP production print inkjet platform, Yurchak has increased productivity, quality and reliability.
MALVERN, Pa., Dec. 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Ricoh USA, Inc. today announced a new digital color multifunction printer (MFP) series that feature enhanced usability and boosts productivity for high-volume environments. The ENERGY STAR® certified RICOH MP C6503 and RICOH MP C8003 color MFPs are Ricoh's high-speed solutions for larger office workgroups, printing documents in vibrant color or sharp black-and-white at speeds up to 80 pages per minute (ppm).


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Sharp to sell off businesses, says Nikkei
Struggling Sharp has denied reports in Japan’s Nikkei newspaper that it will start selling off its businesses. One of the businesses specified was a lithium-ion battery business. it may also sell its stake in Olympus.
Sharp, which is losing money heavily in the TV business, is in the throes of a long negotiation with Foxconn, the Chinese contract manufacturing company, for Foxconn to take a 10% stake in Sharp.
The deal was done and then, while still being considered by regulators, was opened for re-negotiation after Sharp’s share price dropped by two thirds..
Sharp, has to raise $3.8bn to $5bn to redeem debt obligations coming due next year which is putting the company under pressure to raise cash.
Sharp has forecast a loss of $3bn for the current fiscal year and plans to cut 5000 jobs.


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Dh100 billion tourism project expands with Bawadi-Zabeel agreement
The development of the Dh100 billion hospitality and tourism project was expanded earlier this week with the signing ceremony between Bawadi, a member of Tatweer, and Zabeel Investments.
The two firms will develop the America Hotels & Resorts as part of the tourism project, according to Khaleej Times. America Hotels & Resorts will be one of the 31 thematic hotels currently under development at Bawadi.
Hosting New York's famous Broadway acts, the hospitality project will be of 3-star rating, and comprise 500 rooms, various international restaurant chains and a shopping boulevard modeled on New York's 5th Avenue.
Speaking of the future cooperation between the two bodies, Mohammed Ali Al Hashimi, Executive Chairman of Zabeel Investments said: "It is our privilege to be associated with Bawadi, a milestone project that has already notched a reputation as pioneers of creativity and innovation. This is our biggest venture in the hospitality sector yet, we hope to meet and exceed expectations by developing this unique resort as the ultimate destination within Bawadi."
The signing ceremony took place at Tatweer offices at the Emirates Towers between Arif Mubarak, CEO of Bawadi and Mohammed Ali Al Hashimi, Executive Chairman of Zabeel Investments.
"We also look forward to translating the vision of His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, in permanently altering Dubai's skyline," Mohammed Ali Al Hashimi added.
- Dh800 million investment sealed for Badawi's Pirates Cove
- Zabeel Investments inks AED 700 million deal with Europe’s largest holiday hotelier, TUI hotels and resorts
- Dh1.2b deal signed by Bawadi for 1000-room hotel resort
- Dh1.3 billion Holly Bolly Hotel and Resort announced for Bawadi
- Dubai's Dh100-billion Bawadi project to be managed by Hill


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A CAMPAIGN has begun this week to encourage people to turn away cold-callers and pick reliable tradesmen to carry out work on their homes.
Derbyshire County Council, which is backing the Trading Standards Institute’s National Consumer Week by pushing its Trusted Traders Scheme, has endorsed the campaign’s message to say no to cold-callers.
The authority has 1,300 traders on its books, ranging from accountants, face painters, and oven cleaners, to mobility aid companies, window cleaners, joiners and dog trainers and it wants residents to ensure they only use services from these approved firms.
Speaking at the launch of National Consumer Week on Monday, the council’s cabinet member for regeneration, Kevin Parkinson, said: “Our Trusted Trader scheme means there is absolutely no need for any Derbyshire resident to ever employ a cold caller. Over the four years it has been running Trusted Trader has built up a strong reputation for excellence.”


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UK Researcher Finds Stupid Simple Method to Bypass PayPal 2FA
Security Update : UK security researcher Henry Hoggard has found a very simple method of bypassing PayPal’s two-factor authentication (2FA) mechanism, allowing an attacker to take over PayPal accounts in less than a minute.
The researcher claims to have discovered this method while in a hotel with no telephone signal, and no way to receive the 2FA verification code to his device via SMS.
The researcher says the problem was found in the “Try another way” link that appears under the 2FA section of the login screen. PayPal provides this option to PayPal account owners for situations when they can’t reach their phone, or they have no signal, as was case for him.
In this type of situations, PayPal asks the user to answer his security questions.
Hoggard discovered that if the attacker had a proxy server running that can intercept and hold the PayPal server requests, it would allow him to tamper with the HTTP data and trick PayPal into granting hi… (read more)


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While watching CNBC’s Squawk Box show last week, I heard Jim Cramer make the following comment:
“You know… this may be more of a technology company than we think. It reads like a fantastic semiconductor company.”
The company he was referring to?
None other than Milwaukee’s motorcycle stalwart, Harley-Davidson (HOG).
Now, I’ve heard Harley-Davidson get called many things in my day… but a tech company? Not so much.
Is Cramer as mad as his Mad Money show? Or is there some truth to his claim?
Harley-Davidson Embraces Its Tech Side
As we’ve noted here many times before, the “connected car” trend is gaining some serious momentum, as in-car technology advances quickly.
Tesla (TSLA) is getting in on the act, too, with a driverless “autopilot” feature revealed in its Model D car.
But the conversation on automotive technology has always excluded motorcycles. That is, until Harley-Davidson launched a few projects it’s been working on…
With the introduction of Project LiveWire, Harley officially broke away from two century-old traditions at the company.
For starters, it’s the company’s first fully electric motorbike, with the company swapping its signature V-Twin engine for an electric motor. The 460-pound bike boasts 74 horsepower and can race from zero to 60 mph in under four seconds.
Second, it’s the first time that Harley has seriously looked to its customer base for feedback.
Keep in mind, Harley was one of only two American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depression. With such longevity and success, company executives have applied the motto, “We know what we’re doing,” and haven’t looked for outside help.
But the crippling recession a few years ago changed all that, and was reflected when Harley shares plummeted from $73.77 to $10.10 by February 1, 2009.
So Harley started listening more. And to help the company refocus, expand, and put itself in a better position to survive economic turmoil, CEO Keith Wandell decided to make a few innovative changes.
LiveWire is one of them. Take a closer look…


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The world of Extended Reality or XR, which covers Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Mixed Reality, offers infinite potential, said Dr. Philip Song, Chief Marketing Officer, Huawei Carrier, during his address at the ongoing Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2022.
According to a survey, the XR industry will contribute US$1.5 trillion to the global GDP by 2030. Dr. Song added that following the mobile internet, ‘Spatial Internet’ will be the next big thing.
Device availability is playing key role
The world is on the cusp of witnessing the fast-paced growth of the XR industry. And the numbers tell the story.
In 2021, more than 10 million units of Oculus Quest 2, a VR headset, were shipped. Ten million users will be the critical mass for the XR ecosystem to take off. The growth of VR devices will mirror that of smartphones and mobile devices. From 1983 to 1994, it took 11 years to sell the first 10 million cellphones. However, the cellphone shipment touched 20 million in 1995, and 100 million were sold over the next three years. According to market forecast, VR headset shipment will reach 100 million units by 2025.
Secondly, the price of VR devices continues to drop, making them affordable for more people. Lastly, continuous innovation in XR technologies has made it possible to deliver a generational leap in user experience.
Content is championing XR growth
Large scale development of games and gaming platforms is also acting as a catalyst to boost the XR industry. “Besides device availability, the most important thing is content. Large sales of hardware and profitable software are the pre-condition for a healthy industry,” shared Dr Song. A case in point is SteamVR, a famous VR gaming platform that took 41 months to connect one million devices per month. But just 11 months later, the number increased to three million. Similarly, the game Beat Saber has seen four million copies sold. This one game generated more than 180 million dollars in revenue.
Moreover, XR developer tools are also more common with the continuous innovation of technologies. “In the past, it required more than 200 lines of code to create an AR special effect. But now, only 10 lines of code are needed with the Huawei AR engine. Developers do not need specialized AR development skills. AR model development is as simple as writing PPT,” he stated.
Some of the success stories of content operation include LG U+ providing AR/VR content to AIS, enabling AIS to quickly acquire content to develop XR users; China Mobile Migu building a VR content aggregation platform to bring in premium content; and Tiktok crowdsourcing content from users. These three cases map to a three-step content strategy: namely content introduction, content aggregation, and content crowdsourcing.
How can telecom operators grab a pie of the XR market?
It will boil down to identifying the right industries and defining the right business models. XR markets should be reviewed first. When identifying a sector, factors such as application potential, regional industry concentration, technical feasibility, and commercial feasibility should be considered. Telecom players also need to define the right business model to convert feasibility into financial success.
In the consumer space, operators can start off by offering XR services as part of the 5G package to get users on board and gain confidence. They can then move on to premium content and scenario-based experience monetization.
Moreover, operators will have to continuously work towards improving XR experience and reducing productions costs to gain a competitive edge.
The way ahead
Dr. Song shared insights into the accelerated growth of the XR industry. He said that the traffic demand of popular XR content doubles every 18 to 24 months. Two years ago, 4K 30-frame full-view XR content was the mainstream, but 8K 60-frame FOV XR content is now becoming more popular. And in the next two to four years, 12K or even 24K XR content with a higher frame rate will be the more common. And this premium content will consume network bandwidth and cloud resources at an exponential pace, he emphasized.
Cloud service capabilities should also double every 18-24 months, allowing premium XR content production costs to fall exponentially. “Huawei Cloud XR Service is one prime example of the same. Through continuous innovation, Huawei is building the strongest foundation for XR development,” he said.
“I do believe that with industry-wide collaboration, 5G+XR will have a bright future. The best way to predict the future is to create it. The time to act is now,” concluded Dr. Song.


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RF Controls LLC, a St. Louis-based company that designs and produces radio frequency identification (RFID) applications, has created a new joint venture with Stanley Black & Decker that will offer software products to track objects.
The new company is called View Technologies and it will be headquartered in Marietta, Georgia. Essentially, the software systems will track parts, tools, electronics and anything else for clients.
RF Controls will supply scientific development and its licensed fixed antenna systems, which enable the tracking. Stanley Black & Decker, which reported $11 billion in revenue in 2013, will provide manufacturing, sales, marketing, installation, software and administrative services through its Industrial and Automotive Repair division.
RF Controls commercializes “smart antenna” systems that have a range of wireless communications uses. Those antennas can read passive radio frequency identification (RFID) tags from great distances.
RF Controls, which reported $1 million in revenue in 2013, projects $2 million in revenue this year. Tom Ellinwood, CEO of RF Controls, said the company likely wouldn’t experience a revenue bump from the partnership with Stanley Black & Decker until 2015. To date, RF Controls has raised $30 million from investors.
Ellinwood said officials from both companies have been working on the partnership for some time.
“Stanley Black & Decker are really a perfect partner for us because we both believe in the concept of marrying hardware parts and software,” he said.
Revenue projections or budget information for View Technologies weren’t immediately released.
RF Controls was founded in 2006 by Ellinwood and Graham Bloy, who serves as the company’s chief scientist and technology developer. RF Controls has 30 employees at its headquarters at 1400 S. Third St. It also has a research warehouse in south St. Louis.
“View Technologies will offer a suite of software products that provide rich real time visual representations of tagged items in free space, including associated analytics that interface to a customer’s legacy enterprise resource planning (ERP) and point of sale (POS) systems either via the cloud or local area networks,” he said in a statement.
RF Controls recently won a $400,000 contract with Lockheed Martin, the $45 billion jet maker, to install an antenna system to track assets for Lockheed’s Lightning II program.


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Online advertising can raise offline sales by up to 12.5%, according to a new study from Microsoft internet unit MSN.
The research tracked campaigns by Nestlé, Kraft and Procter & Gamble between November 2003 and January 2004. It found that advertising with an online element led to sales increases of between 7% and 12.5%.
The study, which showed participants ads for certain brands then compared their purchase patterns with a control group, discovered that web campaigns raised core brand attributes by five to seven points and purchase intent by three to seven points.
It recommended that at least 5% of marketing budgets should be spent on web ads to ensure an optimal balance of on and offline media.
Data sourced from: BrandRepublic (UK); additional content by WARC staff


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The Flipkart page for Mi handsets is now taking registrations for the second separate flash sales for the Redmi 1S and Redmi Note 4G. The first flash sale on Tuesday will be for the Redmi Note 4G and will kick off at 2pm IST, January 13. While the second flash sale on Tuesday for the Redmi 1S will start at 5pm IST on the same day. The page also notes that every user will have to register separately for buying the two smartphones.
As before, the Xiaomi Redmi 1S will be available via Flipkart at Rs. 5,999, while the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4G will be available at Rs. 9,999, and registrations for both the smartphones that make consumers eligible to participate in the sale will end at midnight on Monday. As of now, Xiaomi has not revealed how many units of the Redmi 1S and Redmi Note 4G will be going on sale on the day. Flipkart's Mi page notes it will limit orders to one phone per registered email ID per sale.
The Chinese handset brand last week just ahead of Redmi 1S flash sale announced that the total number of handsets available this time for flash sale would be just 20,000, instead of the 40,000 revealed earlier.
The company explained the halving in a tweet and said, "This is due to an unforeseen logistics delay. We apologize for the inconvenience caused! Be assured - we will make it up in our future sales."


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For most publishers, there are two phases to a site redesign. The first happens behind closed doors, with user testing and internal work, with the grand public unveiling coming later. The Economist took a different approach over the past year. Choosing to draw out the introduction of its new site in order to gather feedback and make tweaks.
A year ago, The Economist had a new design ready to go. Rather than push it live and trumpet the new site in a press release, the publisher took a go-slow approach, showing it to just .5 percent of its visitors a year ago and steadily increasing the exposure over nine months while collecting and analyzing some 20,000 comments from readers.
The go-slow approach allowed The Economist to make changes. For instance, The Economist found readers wanting more content on the homepage, despite designers typical love of white space. After increasing the number of links visible to readers on site, the number of people clicking through from the homepage to another article increased by 8 percent.
“We had made it cleaner and clearer, but we had nearly gone too far, people scanning for the news found that there weren’t enough links,” said Robin Raven, vp product and reader strategy, global circulation at The Economist.
The current homepage has a more uniform design than its predecessor, with content sorted neatly into cards. The number of topics in the main navigation bar has been cut from six to three, and the print magazine is given more prominence than before.
The Economist has also slashed the page-load speed of the second page people view after the homepage. According to Raven, the second page loads 80 percent faster than it did on the old site, which means people are reading more. Subscribers are consuming 10 percent more articles than before. Non-paying readers, who register their email address to get three free articles a week, are consuming 12 percent more articles than before.
Page latency remains a persistent headache for publishers, and The Economist will fiercely monitor the progress. There’s still room for improvement. Google’s speed test rates The Economist as 67 out of 100 on desktop, while on mobile it’s a little lower at 57, (The Financial Times scores 90 out of 100 on Google’s speed test.)
The start of the process was to examine what the Economist.com is used for. “It’s like a dice: it has many faces,” he said, a concept he has delved into previously in a Medium post early on in the project. As well as a shop window for content, the homepage is also the most popular channel for readers to buy a subscription through.
Although The Economist’s hybrid ad and subscription model means it isn’t beholden to digital ad revenue, the homepage is still critical for serving ads. The number of ad units remains unchanged, at three, but the time an ad is in view has increased by an average 30 percent.
On mobile, where it gets around 75 percent of its traffic, according to comScore, The Economist has cut its infinite scroll feature, where each article rolls into the next. “One of our promises is that we are a trusted finishability filter. The infinite scroll didn’t chime brilliantly with that promise,” said Raven.
For this same reason, it approaches personalization carefully, believing that “subscribers pay for us to do that editing for them.” Rather than let readers create their own feeds, The Economist has bundled content around similar themes, like Brexit, or tech reports, and made them more visible on the homepage. “The collections allow people to see the breadth of coverage, while also feeling informed. Previously the collections weren’t as intuitive,” he said.
The plan is to keep tweaking the site, speeding up load times more, and adding new features. Previously The Economist would release code changes, such as bug fixes, or feature updates, batched together on a weekly basis. That used to create workflow blockages, with valuable updates waiting in a queue. Now the team works to a continuous deployment model, updating code as and when needed.
Raven wouldn’t share how many people are in The Economist’s engineering team, as it varies depending on the project, though he said it is lean. This project involved a spectrum of people from the organization, including infrastructure engineers, user experience designers, graphic designers, front and back end developers.
“We didn’t look at the metering element as part of this project, we had to draw a line somewhere, finding the right timing for the paywall to fire is something we will be focusing on.”
Images: courtesy of The Economist via Facebook.
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The cyber attack stemmed from a phishing email and impacted some 113,000 people. The government supplier was also faulted for not following up on an antivirus alert as well as having outdated systems and inadequate staff training in place.
UK ICO has reached a provisional finding that TikTok failed to protect children's privacy from 2018 to 2020. If this finding holds up, TikTok could be on the hook for a £27 million fine.
New Data Protection Standards for Adtech Companies Proposed by UK ICO, But Actual Changes Remain Questionable as Leadership Changes Hands
A new Commissioner's Opinion issued by the UK's ICO reiterates the country's data protection standards and lays out its vision of future regulation plans for adtech companies.
Issuing GDPR Fines Is One Thing, Collecting Them Is Another; UK ICO Struggling To Enforce Actions as 74% Of Penalties Remain Unpaid
Issuing GDPR fines is just the first step of the process; at some point they have to be collected, and the UK ICO is struggling to do that with only a 26% success rate.
UK ICO Commissioner’s Plan To Address “Endless” Cookie Popups Resembles Browser “Do Not Track” Initiatives
Outgoing UK Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham has suggested a shift in focus from individual cookie popups at each website to regulation of browsers and devices as the source of expressing user tracking preferences.
The 2018 Marriott data breach was one of the biggest of its type in history, and was initially looking at receiving one of the biggest fines of £99 million. However, the UK ICO has reduced the penalty to £18.4 million.
UK ICO Takes Action Against Experian for Data Broking Practices; “Invisible” Personal Data Processing Must Be Reformed Within Nine Months
Experian’s data broking department providing marketing analytics is in trouble with the UK ICO, requiring it to make major changes to its direct marketing services.
UK ICO Levies GDPR Fine of £20 Million for British Airways 2018 Data Breach, Substantially Less Than the Initial £183 Million
One of the largest GDPR fines to date, the UK ICO's decision found that the travel giant was negligent due to ‘poor security arrangements’ creating a hole that was exploited for two months.
UK ICO is investigating claims of employee surveillance that include using tracking software to determine when and for how long employees were away from their desks.


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Videology, founded by brothers Scott and John Ferber, the minds behind Advertising.com, the “technology, data and insights arm of AOL Advertising” with offices near Locust Point, has acquired mobile data management platform Collider Media, reports AdExchanger. This is Videology’s first acquisition.
Videology, which changed its name from Tidal TV at the beginning of this year, is an online advertising platform that uses mathematical calculations to help companies get their advertisements in front of “those consumers they most want to reach,” according to Videology’s website. It has an office in Baltimore, as well as offices in several other cities in the United States and an office in London.
The Baltimore Sun reports that Videology completed raising a round of investments worth a little more than $13 million on Aug. 17, and that some of that money went toward the acquisition of Collider Media, although the financial details of the acquisition have not been disclosed.
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Macy's is testing a mobile tool using artificial intelligence that lets shoppers get answers customized to the store they're in—like where a particular brand is located or what's in stock—that they would normally ask ...
Twitter said Tuesday it was streamlining the process for creating verified accounts, a move likely to boost the number of users with a "blue badge" icon.
Samsung Electronics today unveiled the industry's first removable memory cards based on the JEDEC Universal Flash Storage (UFS) 1.0 Card Extension Standard, for use in high-resolution mobile shooting devices such as DSLRs, ...
Modern technology has presented us with something of a Faustian bargain when it comes to our privacy, but Apple thinks we should have another option.
DuPont is opening its Association of Southeast Asian Nations headquarters in Singapore.
A new report says that the European Union's borderless single market is expanding only sluggishly into cyberspace, amid consumer concerns about security and whether it's possible to return unwanted purchases.
A Microsoft executive told the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday that "there is no silver bullet that will stop terrorist use of the Internet."
IBM on Wednesday opened its quantum computer processor to anyone who wants to try what is expected to be a new kind of computing with enormously improved power and speed.
Apple confirmed Tuesday that it has hired robotics star and Google X lab co-founder Yoky Matsuoka to work on health projects.
Mobile phone roaming fees in the EU will fall sharply on Saturday, the last step before they are abolished completely for Europeans next year.


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InstaVolt has confirmed that over 200 of its existing ChargePoint CPE250 electric vehicle (EV) chargers will benefit from an “extensive upgrade programme”.
Over the next six weeks, the 50kW chargers will be upgraded to become capable of outputting up to 125kW, significantly reducing charging times for EV drivers.
The newly optimised chargers will form part of InstaVolt’s established network of high-speed chargers, capable of delivering charging speeds of more than 100kW.
EV digital platforms such as Zap-Map, as well as InstaVolt’s charger map and app will display each newly upgraded chargepoint in real time.
“With this round of upgrades, drivers will experience faster rates of charging on our popular CPE250 chargers, subject to their car being able to accept greater than 50kW. This will reduce charging times and allow drivers to get back on the road sooner,” said Adrian Keen, CEO at InstaVolt.
“The majority of EVs on the road will benefit from this upgrade. With most of our CPE250s located next to convenience retail, and roadside food and drinks outlets including operators such as Costa Coffee and McDonald’s, this is another example of InstaVolt perfectly matching charging speeds to dwell time and providing an even better experience for its drivers.”
Earlier this week InstaVolt also announced a new partnership with real estate company, LondonMetric, to install rapid EV chargers at real estate locations throughout the UK.


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Apple iPhone 6, 6Plus Launched in Pakistan
Smartphone sales have accelerated in recent months after the roll-out of 3G and 4G services in Pakistan. The number of 3G subscribers has reached 4 million mark, apparently surpassing all other broadband technologies in the country, within the first three months of the issuance of 3G and 4G licenses in the country. There are around 3.7 million broadband subscriptions in Pakistan for all technologies combined including WiMAX, DSL, EvDO, FTTH, Satellite, HFC and others till May this year.
Total number of mobile subscribers in Pakistan is over 150 million. A growing number of these subscribers are smartphone owners who are using web services like e-commerce and social media. Gertjan van Laar, an app developer who recently published a report on smartphone usage in Pakistan, told Tech in Asia that smartphone penetration has reached between 7 and 10 percent of the population – in contrast to the general mobile penetration rate of 80 percent.
Here are some of the highlights of the report on smartphones in Pakistan:
1. Android is Pakistan’s top smartphone OS with 68 percent share just among smartphone users
2. Apple iOS is second with 24 percent share; Windows Phone is third at eight percent
3. Samsung is the top brand; iPhone is second; homegrown phone-maker QMobile is third
4. 35 percent of smartphone users in Pakistan own a low-cost phone.
Growing availability of smartphones and 3G/4G services is enabling Pakistani apps developers to build and offer a wide range of apps, including everything from the most-used messaging apps to social networking, games, entertainment, government, banking, business and finance, navigation and utility apps, such as budgeting and data backing, according to a report in The Express Tribune newspaper. In addition to software houses, an active community of mostly self-taught freelance app developers is also bidding for projects listed on global online platforms, such as oDesk, Elance, Guru and Freelancer, the paper adds.
Increasing access to advanced smartphones and mobile broadband augurs well for innovation and investment in Pakistan.
Mobile Broadband in Pakistan
Pakistan Government Deploys Mobile Apps
Telecom and Media Boom in Pakistan
Mobile Money Revolution in Pakistan
Smartphones in India and Pakistan
Pakistan Among Top Outsourcing Destinations
Pakistan Starts Tablet PC Production
Pakistan Launches 100 Mbps FTTH Service


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BETHESDA, Md.–RLJ Lodging Trust (the “Company”) (NYSE: RLJ) today announced that the Company has sold the 362-room Vinoy Renaissance St. Petersburg Resort & Golf Club for total consideration of $188.5 million, consisting of the contractual sales price of $185.0 million and the release of $3.5 million in member deposits. The total consideration represents approximately $521,000 per key.
“We are very pleased with the highly accretive valuation this iconic hotel garnered, which further underscores our ability to maximize value from the sale of our non-core assets,” commented Leslie D. Hale, President and Chief Executive Officer. “Our team has made tremendous progress towards achieving our strategic objectives this year and we are well-positioned to continue to unlock the embedded value in our portfolio.”
Based on the operating results for the twelve months ended July 2018, the total consideration equates to a 19.6x EBITDA multiple and 3.9% capitalization rate. The Company also recently sold the 152-room DoubleTree Columbia Hotel for $12.9 million, which is located in Columbia, MD. Based on the operating results for the twelve months ended July 2018, the sale price equates to a 14.1x EBITDA multiple and 5.6% capitalization rate, inclusive of planned capital expenditures.
In aggregate, over the last twelve months, the Company has sold approximately $600 million of assets at an EBITDA multiple of approximately 16x.
The Company estimates these two dispositions will reduce the 2018 outlook by the following:
- Pro forma Consolidated Hotel EBITDA by $12 million for the full year
- Adjusted EBITDA by $1 million in the 2018 third quarter and $4 million in the 2018 fourth quarter
The Company applied the net proceeds from the sales to pay down the remaining balance on its credit facility and for general corporate purposes. Holliday Fenoglio Fowler advised the Company on the transaction.


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There is such a thing as a free cup of coffee.
Just ask Jonathan Stark, a mobile applications consultant from Providence, R.I., who started conducting an experiment in social sharing in July. That's when he began letting people download his Starbucks card to their smartphones to buy coffee on him.
Stark, 42, calls it "broadcasting money." He asked only that people keep purchases to $3 or less and that they tweet about his project. And, if they wanted to pay it forward, to add some money to the card. His Twitter account posts the card's balance.
Stark was researching mobile payments for a Boston start-up when he hit on an idea: He says he took a screen shot of the bar code in the Starbucks app on his iPhone. He emailed the screen shot to himself. Then he could open that email on any of his phones so the Starbucks barista could scan it. Then he made the screen shot available to the world. People who didn't have smartphones printed out the screen shot. One person even had the barista scan his laptop.
In the beginning, he had fewer than 100 people following him on Twitter, so the card balance always remained fairly low. But over the weekend, Stark's experiment was discovered and the lattes began flowing.
Stark estimates that the Starbucks card has gone through about $4,400, most of it in the last two days. That's $4,000 in anonymous donations, he said.
"95% of people are super cool and like the idea. The last I checked, about an hour ago, the number of people getting drinks versus people contributing money was 2 to 1," Stark said.
Friday, August 12, 2011
Most AWESOME Mobile $ Experiment - Jonathan Stark wants you to use his Starbucks card - latimes.com
Posted by siobhan at 1:40 PM


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Google is well-known for partnering with device makers to build Nexus-branded smartphones and tablets. It works with some of the same companies to produce Chromebooks. However, Google may be handling the hardware development for the next Chromebook on its own. A report from China Times claims that Google has contracted Taiwanese manufacturing giant Compal to build the system. Compal manufactures notebooks for numerous brands, and Google is reportedly contracting the firm directly.
Given how successfully Apple has combined hardware and software development, we shouldn't be surprised if Google pursues a similar strategy. Even Microsoft is designing its own system hardware these days. Of course, Redmond's decision to produce Surface tablets has angered some of its hardware partners. Google could also face backlash if existing Chromebook makers like Acer and Samsung feel like they're being squeezed out. Those companies make an awful lot of Android-based devices, and I'm sure Google wants them on its side.
If there is a Google-designed Chromebook in the works, perhaps it's more of an experimental product than a harbinger of a broader shift in strategy. The system will purportedly include a touchscreen, which doesn't strike me as the sort of feature that a Chromebook really needs. Google has long tried to keep its Android and Chrome operating systems separate, but touchscreen input would seem to blur the line between the two. Perhaps the growing number of convertible tablets fueled by Windows 8 has made Google reconsider the relationship between Chromebooks and Android-based tablets. Thanks to TechCrunch for the tip.
|European Commission fines Google $2.7 bn over Shopping results||27|
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|Gigabyte GA-AB350N-Gaming WIFI mobo stuffs Ryzen into Mini-ITX||31|
|Biostar TB250-BTC Pro motherboard hands miners a shovel||12|
|Intel SSD 545s arrives with 64-layer 3D TLC flash aboard||8|
|Radeon Vega Frontier Edition launches today for $999 and up||24|
|Aorus X299 mobos arrive at stores with an Xperience Pack in tow||3|
|Asus and Sapphire offer digital pickaxes to crypto-miners||30|
|That's nothing compared to the ongoing espionage campaign that has been leaking the entire Linux kernel source code on a daily basis for literally DEC...||+58|


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This story is part of, where CNET covers the latest news on the most incredible tech coming soon.
Razer's not a , but it certainly is in gaming hardware, and it launched its first , the , at the end of 2018. So now that everyone's pushing as the path to making a mainstream reality, it makes sense for Razer to get into the game a little sooner. And so it has, unveiling its Sila 5G Home Router concept at , which doubles as a stationary 5G-based home mesh router and a mobile 5G hotspot.
The 5G version incorporates the FasTrack engine of the Sila, which dynamically optimizes network prioritization to sustain low latency and high bandwidth for gaming; the Sila 5G can differentiate among different gaming systems, such as console or PC, as well as lock in bandwidth for online play and address some of the unique challenges posed by cloud gaming. Like most good routers these days, you can control its settings via a mobile app.
The company developed the Sila 5G in conjunction with the Singaporean government and a telecom company there -- Razer is based in Singapore -- and sadly has no plans at the moment to offer the device outside of the country.
Originally published Jan. 7.


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Infiniti has announced that the European launches of its EX37 coupe crossover, FX performance crossover, and G37 coupe and sedan models will occur in October 2008, with the UK seeing its first cars in April 2009.
Demand, however, appears to be so great that Infiniti has created a website to allow consumers to pre-register orders.
Infiniti Europe’s marketing director, Bastien Schupp, said: "Almost 10,000 people have already signed up on www.infiniti.eu to be an Infiniti Insider.
"We’re pleased to see that excitement and anticipation are building even faster than we expected."
It is anticipated that the list can remain open until September 30th 2008 but then the dealerships will begin to receive their cars, and ordering will take place through them.


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SAN FRANCISCO -- In an email sent to all Apple employees, CEO Tim Cook said it was "unacceptable" for three black teenagers to have been barred from entering an Apple Store in Australia. The incident, a video of which went viral earlier this week, was considered the latest example of the tech industry's diversity problem.
In the video, three black teenagers -- reportedly from Sudan and Somalia -- were kept from entering a company store in Melbourne, reportedly due to one employee's fear that "they might steal something." After footage of the interaction appeared online, it spread quickly, and culminated in a message from Apple. "We apologize to the customers involved," the company said.
Cook further addressed the incident in a companywide email, which was obtained by BuzzFeed News and published Friday. Cook said he believes it was an isolated incident, but said the company would use it as an opportunity to retrain leaders at its stores across the world on how to be inclusive with customers of all backgrounds.
So these men who work @ the Apple Store, refused to let in Somali/Sudanese students in. Racially discriminating them pic.twitter.com/yomYNpSpCg
— FD (@Crypticgirl_) November 10, 2015
"Our stores and our hearts are open to people from all walks of life, regardless of race or religion, gender or sexual orientation, age, disability, income, language or point of view," Cook wrote. "All across our company, being inclusive and embracing our differences makes our products better and our stores stronger."
Though Apple has some of the best diversity figures of any company in the tech industry, its workforce still skews heavily toward white and Asian men. In its latest diversity report, issued in August, Apple showed its global workforce is made up of 31 percent women. Meanwhile, in the U.S., 8 percent of Apple employees are African-Americans and 11 percent are Hispanic.
Cook said an Apple representative personally apologized to the students, a point that had previously been made by Nick Scott, principal of the school the teenagers attend. “All I hoped to do yesterday, and we were very successful in doing this, was to just ask the local Apple Store there to just reassure the boys that they would always be welcome, which they did and they did with good grace,” Scott said, according to the Telegraph.


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Remember when everyone (even us) was recently doubting that Dawnguard would ever come to PC or PS3? That dark age is over, as the Skyrim expansion is now available on PC via Steam and will also be coming to PS3 once it’s been properly optimized.
Bethesda has announced today at Quakecon 2012 that Dawnguard has released on Steam, and to ‘celebrate’, Skyrim itself is 50% off for a limited time. It’s a sudden announcement, but a welcome one.
It was also stated that Dawnguard would eventually be coming to PS3 once its performance on PS3 is sorted out and optimized. Knowing previous Bethesda releases on PS3, this is a very good thing.
We are not satisfied yet with Dawnguard’s performance on the PS3. We would like for everyone to have a chance to play Dawnguard, but we aren’t going to release it for PS3 knowing that some people’s experience in Skyrim will be worse. We do everything we can to have our content available to all; from our free updates, to user mods, to paid DLC. We’re as disappointed as our fans when that isn’t the case, but we’ll continue to push for that reality.
Make sure to follow OnlySP for more sudden but welcome news.


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GoTo Group, Indonesia’s biggest tech company, surged on its first day of trading after raising $1.1 billion in one of the world’s largest initial public offerings this year.
The shares jumped as much as 23% and were up 15% to 388 rupiah at midday break in Jakarta, valuing the company at about $32 billion.
GoTo’s listing bucks a global trend of companies scrapping or delaying IPOs because of worries about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, soaring inflation and rising interest rates. As Southeast Asia’s technology industry gains steam, GoTo’s strong debut bodes well for the region’s other technology companies seeking to list in Indonesia or overseas.
“The more these IPOs do well, the more Indonesia becomes a home for it, and you get a self-perpetuating type of situation,” said Angus Mackintosh, founder of CrossASEAN Research. “GoTo will likely have strong support in the near term given its broader exposure to the overall digital economy.”
GoTo is the largest of a crop of startups seeking to ride the rapid pace of mobile penetration and internet use in Southeast Asia, a region of more than 650 million people. Other regional technology companies that have been preparing for IPOs include PT Traveloka Indonesia and Blibli.com. GoTo will use the IPO to bankroll an expansion of its services to more markets, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder Andre Soelistyo told Bloomberg Television.
It’s a matter of timing as to when GoTo will “expand more aggressively,” he said.
Underscoring GoTo’s importance to the local economy and technology industry, Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo gave a short video address at the ceremony marking the debut on Monday. “I hope this GoTo IPO motivates young Indonesians to lend new energy to the technological leap in this country’s economy,” he said.
GoTo’s offering is the third-largest in Indonesia after PT Bukalapak.com and PT Dayamitra Telekomunikasi, known as Mitratel. The company immediately ranks among the most valuable companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange along with PT Bank Central Asia, PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia and PT Telkom Indonesia.
The company is the result of last year’s merger between Indonesia’s two most valuable internet startups — ride-hailing provider Gojek and e-commerce firm Tokopedia — to get more firepower against rivals in an increasingly cutthroat market. Over the years, the two amassed a long list of investors, including Google, Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Sequoia Capital India. The latter was an early backer of both Gojek and Tokopedia.
GoTo is among Southeast Asian consumer-internet companies that are adding users at a rapid clip but have yet to generate sustainable profit. Still, GoTo is enjoying a leadership position in Indonesia, a country of more than 270 million people whose mobile-savvy consumers are shopping on Tokopedia’s platform and ordering rides and food via Gojek’s app.
It all started in 2009, when William Tanuwijaya, the son of a factory worker, made a bet on Indonesia’s economic and internet boom and founded Tokopedia — the name is a variant of the Indonesian word for “store.” A year later, Nadiem Makarim, a Harvard Business School grad and former McKinsey & Co. consultant, set up Gojek to arrange courier deliveries in Jakarta.
Soelistyo joined Gojek in 2015 after working as an investor at private-equity firm Northstar Group, one of the first institutional backers of the upstart. He and co-founder Kevin Aluwi were named co-CEOs of the ride-hailing company in October 2019, when Makarim left to join the government as the nation’s minister for education and culture.


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Forbes rejuvenates mobile Web site with app-like redesign
Forbes is introducing a new mobile Web experience that brings a Snapchat-inspired design to Forbes stories.
The new site will use Progressive Web App technology to make the publisher?s mobile site behave more akin to a mobile application. This technology heralds a future in which mobile Web experiences will be comparable to, and serve as incentives for, mobile apps.
?We?ve completely overhauled our approach to product innovation so that we can better respond to the way our readers are consuming content and address the rapid changes in the marketplace,? said Salah Zalatimo, senior vice president of product and technology at Forbes Media. ?This new mobile site is our first major step in optimizing our storytelling capabilities, and it?s creating a better, faster and more engaging experience for Forbes readers.?
Progressive Web App
Mobile apps were extremely popular at the advent of smartphones, as exemplified by the iconic catchphrase: ?There?s an app for that.?
But lately things have changed. Consumers have limited space on their phones and the market is so saturated with apps that many are choosing to block out all but the most essential.
This leaves a dilemma for brands and marketers who still want to get their message across but are no longer able to push the kinds of app install numbers that they were used to.
Brands are responding in a variety of different ways. One method, as is being taken by Forbes, uses a new technology called Progressive Web Apps.
This technology allows brands to build mobile Web sites that look and act like an app instead of a mobile Web page.
Mobile Web pages are notoriously difficult to navigate, even for the most streamlined and mobile-optimized of brands.
PWA allows mobile sites to behave more fluidly and offer the same services that consumers traditionally get from apps.
Forbes is rolling out this change in three stages. Phase one will offer the newly designed Web site for only users who visit a Forbes article through Google?s AMP program.
The second phase will show the new site to any social reader, while phase three sees it being rolled out to 100 percent of Forbes? mobile audience.
The new Web pages load in under a second and are much better optimized for mobile viewing than standard mobile Web pages.
Forbes? new app-like mobile Web page is inspired by Snapchat-style stories and features a similar navigation method.
This is consistent with the general feelings toward Snapchat in the media and publishing world, with a large number of publishers migrating their services to Snapchat (see story).
In addition to redesigned mobile Web pages, many brands are turning to messaging as an alternative to apps (see story).
Forbes push to make its mobile Web page fluid and app-like represents a significant change in the future of how media companies host their stories on mobile.
Other brands are likely to follow suit if Forbes? experiment proves a success.
?The launch of this new PWA marks the culmination of a year-long organizational transformation Forbes has undergone to become a product-driven company. We?ve been able to quickly iterate on this new product to gather input and alignment from all stakeholders ? readers, journalists, and advertisers,? Mr. Zalatimo said.